Disturbance of Intertidal Sediments: The Response of Bacteria and Foraminifera

Experimental data from a study on the re-establishment of vertical bacterial and foraminiferal zonation in intertidal sediments after sieving and incubation. The dataset includes counts of living foraminifera, measurements of redox-sensitive pore water elements, and bacterial abundance quantified via phospholipid-derived fatty acids. The data was published by the Australian Ocean Data Network and last updated on 2026-04 10.

Use Cases

• Modeling the vertical migration of foraminifera based on oxygen availability data
• Analyzing changes in bacterial community structure based on phospholipid-derived fatty acid (PLFA) profiles
• Studying the long-term effects of sediment sieving on pore water geochemistry using redox-sensitive element measurements
• Comparing field and microcosm sediment mixing dynamics based on fatty acid concentration depth profiles

Strengths

• Includes measurements of living foraminifera counts and bacterial abundances via PLFA analysis
• Contains depth-specific data for pore water geochemistry and fatty acid concentrations
• Compares field conditions with controlled microcosm experiments over a 49-day incubation period

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment
• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Incubation experiments with sieved intertidal sediments, using Rose Bengal staining for foraminifera, voltammetric microelectrodes for pore water, and PLFA analysis for bacteria.

Time Range

Experimental incubation period of 49 days.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-10 19:27:26.831048

Geography

Intertidal sediments; specific location not stated.